PHILIPSBURG:--- As of 5pm on Friday afternoon residents on Dutch St. Maarten have been experiencing power outages at various locations. However, about an hour ago all generators at the Cape Bay power plant shut down causing a total blackout.
Chief Financial Officer Iris Arrindell said in an invited comment that GEBE mechanics are working on getting engine 19 back online in order for the St. Maarten Medical Center to have power since they are in need of urgent electricity. Arrindell said after that the company will put the other generators online, one by one in order to secure them. She said the cause of the total power outage will be released later.
GEBE stated in a press release that the Production Plant in Cay Bay experienced an unexpected fault on one of its generators at 4:48pm which subsequently lead to an overload on the remaining generators resulting in a total black out. Electricity was restored to the majority of consumers by 8:30pm. GEBE apologizes to its customers with this unexpected interruption.
GEBE is stating that “we will commence with the commissioning of Generator / Engine #20 this Sunday, December 4, 2016, from 4am to 7am, which will require a certain software update to the automated system. This may result in possible loss of power in certain areas during the aforementioned hours.”
GEBE Press Release.
Island wide Blackout on Dutch St. Maarten (UPDATED)
